Hoya

Oscar De La Hoya and Fernando Vargas don't like each other. They share the same heritage but are viewed in striking extremes by their Mexican-American brothers and sisters. De La Hoya is a man of worldly privilege. He is a pretty boy married to a beautiful singer, blessed with great crossover appeal among a professional boxing audience that includes swooning teenagers. Vargas is a spunky street fighter who rose from the badlands of Oxnard, Calif., to become a champion. "I've always wanted to fight him to show everyone who the true representative of the Mexican fighters is," Vargas said.

Oscar De La Hoya says he will leave the welterweight division to become a super welterweight after his Sept. 18 "battle of the welterweights" in Las Vegas with Felix Trinidad. "It has been difficult for me to make the weight in this division, and if I beat Trinidad and he wants a rematch, it'll have to be in the superwelter category," De La Hoya, the World Boxing Council welterweight champion, said. "I'm not a natural welter. I'm not going to fight anymore as a welter." Welterweights weigh between 147 and 153 pounds, super welterweights between 154 and 159. De La Hoya (31-0)

Alonzo Mourning is going back to school, with a lesson plan than will take him far from home. The NBA announced Tuesday that the Miami Heat executive will be reunited with fellow Georgetown University alums Dikembe Mutombo and Patrick Ewing for a Basketball without Borders outreach program Sept. 1-4 in South Africa. It will be a reunion trip for the trio of former Hoyas, who traveled with a similar NBA group in 1994 for youth clinics in Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Africa.

Oscar De La Hoya's blackened and swollen eye now will be turned toward Madison Square Garden and Saturday's welterweight showdown between unbeaten IBF champion Felix Trinidad and Pernell Whitaker. He doesn't want any more of Ike Quartey after escaping with a split 12-round decision Saturday night against the previously unbeaten fighter from Ghana in a WBC title bout. De La Hoya earlier in one of the few bright rounds was decked by a left hook in the sixth A couple of overhand rights also had him in serious trouble.

BADALONA, Spain -- It`s not enough for Oscar de la Hoya to carry the painful memory of burying his mother two years ago. For the rest of the Summer Olympics, de la Hoya enters the ring trying to settle painful accounts for his friends. Following an afternoon of controversy and disappointment for the U.S. boxing team, de la Hoya beat Nigeria`s Moses Odion 16-4 for the team`s only victory. Three teammates, including four-time world champion Eric Griffin, lost to leave seven boxers in contention for Olympic medals.

Promoter Bob Arum had barely had time to wipe the sweat off his brow Saturday night after another close call for his boxing empire when he began talking about Oscar De La Hoya's future, making Shane Mosley the second-happiest fighter inside the Mandalay Bay Events Center. The happiest, of course, was De La Hoya, whose entourage partied well into the early morning hours Sunday after his 11th-round technical knockout over Fernando Vargas not only established De La Hoya as the most marketable boxer today but restored a reputation tarnished by two losses, to Felix Trinidad Jr. and Mosley, in his past five fights.

Picture Oscar De La Hoya alone on a dark freeway near midnight, his car hit by one runaway driver already, stuck in the fast lane in a stalled car one exit short of home. The World Boxing Council welterweight champion has no trouble visualizing the scene, because last Sunday night, he was there: Just another driver on the freeway near Whittier, Calif., with danger quickly approaching. Calling it "10 seconds that saved my life," De La Hoya jumped out of the stalled car - his brother's new Mercedes - after searching for the cellular phone he almost always carries.

Oscar De La Hoya, who had hinted at retirement if he lost a second time to Shane Mosley, suggested something far more sinister after his defeat Saturday night. "I will put a full investigation on this," said the dethroned super-welterweight champion. "I feel in my heart that the decision should have gone to me." In the aftermath of his lost chance to avenge only the second defeat in a hugely successful and profitable 39-fight career, De La Hoya's frustration was clear. His plan for vindication was not, though De La Hoya said he vowed to use his considerable financial and legal resources to probe factors in the three judges all scoring the fight against him by identical scores of 115-113, seven rounds to five.

Boxing Oscar De La Hoya was impressive enough in his debut at 154 pounds Saturday. He won a title, thrilled the crowd and had enough left in the end to put Javier Castillejo on the canvas in the final round in Las Vegas. "I set the terms now," De La Hoya said. "I want to fight the best to be the best." De La Hoya didn't see the best Saturday night against Castillejo, who was game enough but not talented enough to keep the WBC super-welterweight belt he wore into the ring against De La Hoya.

The United States Lifesaving Association (USLA) Southeast Region brought its 5K run race competition event to Pompano Beach March 4. The series of competitive events are organized by Competition and Lifesaving Academy Director Jim McCrady, who is a lieutenant at Fort Lauderdale Beach and who also works the beach at Pompano. Events range from running, swimming, paddleboarding, surfboats, to surf skis, and serve the purpose of keeping these top notch professional athletes in shape and ready for lifesaving rescues.

By Michael Berardino and South Florida Sun-Sentinel, February 23, 2011

Bob Arum and Oscar De La Hoya made a ton of money during their eight years together (1992-2000). But once De La Hoya, the former Olympic gold medalist and world champion in six different weight classes, mounted a successful lawsuit against Arum a decade ago to start his own Golden Boy Promotions, their relationship turned toxic. "A dummy," Arum called De La Hoya during a visit to Fort Lauderdale this week to promote the March 12 title bout between Miguel Cotto and Ricardo Mayorga.

The man who calls Oscar De La Hoya his best friend said Sunday morning that the fighter is out of the hospital, with no broken bones, and will return to his Puerto Rico home before finalizing his probable decision to retire. "No one can make that decision for him," said Richard Schaefer, the chief executive of De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions. "We've laid the foundation for this time." That time clearly appeared to arrive Saturday night, when Manny Pacquiao forced De La Hoya to quit after eight rounds with quick punches and footwork, battering the proud 10-time former world champion before a capacity crowd of more than 15,000 at MGM Grand.

Joan Cohen wouldn't necessarily label herself a flower addict, but her backyard says differently, as there are more than 200 types of orchids and succulent plants in her gardens. Last month, Cohen, 67, of Pembroke Pines and her daughter, Claire, bought another cactus, a crested Madagascar palm, this time as a gift for a friend. The tropical tree has fat, mutated branches curling around its base like tendrils as small green and white leaves sprout above the tangled knots. "This is very unique, but my friend isn't much into caring for plants," Cohen said, paying vendor Samuel Rodriguez $10. "She only has to water it once a week inside but never outside."

With the recent retirement of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Oscar De La Hoya is the sport's biggest and perhaps only remaining draw. However, the charismatic De La Hoya is preparing to end his 16-year career in December at age 35. "Can I still compete at the highest level, absolutely," he said. "I realize I am not 25 anymore. My body is still fit, but my mind is ready to retire." In town to promote his autobiography American Son on Saturday at Books and Books in Coral Gables, De La Hoya said he was disappointed that Mayweather Jr. decided to abruptly retire.

They barnstormed 11 of the country's major cities, dredged up family rifts, aimed scorn at each other, flashed cash and smiles on an HBO reality series and delivered a selling point that no real sports fan can ignore: the world's most popular fighter against the world's best pound-for-pound boxer. The injection of hype that tonight's super-welterweight title fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. at MGM Grand Garden Arena brings to boxing is exactly what the faltering sport needs.

WBC welterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya said his long layoff because of a wrist injury might prolong his career. De La Hoya's first fight back is June 13 against Patrick Charpentier of France. The title defense fight is scheduled for the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. De La Hoya (27-0, 22 KOs) injured his left wrist while training for the Charpentier fight, originally scheduled early this year. De La Hoya hasn't fought since his Dec. 6 eight-round victory over Wilfredo Rivera. "I can truthfully say I am rededicated and refocused," De La Hoya said.

The man who calls Oscar De La Hoya his best friend said Sunday morning that the fighter is out of the hospital, with no broken bones, and will return to his Puerto Rico home before finalizing his probable decision to retire. "No one can make that decision for him," said Richard Schaefer, the chief executive of De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions. "We've laid the foundation for this time." That time clearly appeared to arrive Saturday night, when Manny Pacquiao forced De La Hoya to quit after eight rounds with quick punches and footwork, battering the proud 10-time former world champion before a capacity crowd of more than 15,000 at MGM Grand.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. stood in a ring recently, but rather than flicking punches, he was flinging cash at the HBO camera that has followed him over the past few weeks for the four-part series that concluded Thursday night, 24/7: De La Hoya-Mayweather. "My name is Floyd, my name is Floyd," he sang, releasing the bills in a tempo that matched his silly doggerel. "My name is Money. Mayweather." If every major fight is about money, then Saturday night's WBC Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya junior middleweight title bout is even more so. The expressed goal is to shatter the record of 1.99 million pay-per-view buys, set in 1997 in the second Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson fight, or the $112 million in revenue recorded in June 2002 for the Tyson-Lennox Lewis bout, which was bought by 1.97 million homes.